Non-infective inflammations of the vertebral spine can be caused by seronegative spondylarthropathies or rheumatoid arthritis, respectively. Seronegative spondylarthropathies include ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel diseases and undifferentiated arthritis. This review discusses etiology and pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis and differential diagnoses of these chronic inflammatory diseases with a special focus on vertebral involvement.